Men prefer women in sports cars, but for women it's a whole different story.

There are many ways to measure up the showroom choices for your next car. Is it efficient, is it affordable, is it comfortable, is it safe ... and now: is it attractive to the opposite sex? A new survey has explored that last factor and come up with some surprising results, especially for those men who think a sports car will make them more attractive to women.

In good news for tradies everywhere, the research undertaken in the US by Insure.com found that more women consider utes the most attractive for potential dates to drive. The poll of 2000 drivers found that of the women, 32 per cent said they saw men who drove utes as the most attractive, with sports cars behind at 27 per cent. SUVs scored just 16 per cent with women, sedans 11 per cent and hybrids and electrics a measly 5 per cent.

Women judged Ford the most attractive brand at 16 per cent, and black the hottest colour at 53 per cent. So, gentlemen: a Ford Ranger in the Black Mica finish? Oh, that does suit sir.

When it came to men's opinions of what cars made women most attractive, the results were more expected. The leader was sports cars with 39 per cent, with sedans trailing behind at 22 per cent, SUVs at 20 per cent and people-movers at the bottom with 4 per cent.

BMW earned the top brand choice for men with 16 per cent, and red the favourite colour with 40 per cent. So ladeeez: a red BMW Z4, perhaps.

The survey added a few very questionable explanations as to why these body types were the top picks, suggesting women were looking for a mate who could "help me move, bring me large gifts ... and do repairs" while they would "think twice about dating a guy driving a VW Beetle, or anything labelled a chick car".

And the research focused only on opposite-gender attraction, so if you're lesbian or gay the results possibly mean even less to you than they should to everybody else when choosing your next car.

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